The present invention relates generally to computer-implemented simulation systems and methods, and more particularly, to a computer-implemented electro-optical target and background simulation system and method that generates simulated images that may be used in designing and testing missile tracking systems.
Synthetic image generation from computer models has long been recognized as a convenient way for simulating a dynamic sensor/tracker system. It is particularly true when developing a high fidelity simulation to facilitate the design and test of a high performance tactical missile system. However, the requirement of high fidelity imagery from the models inevitably requires enormous computing resources. Recent advances in computer technology and associated decreasing computer cost have made this approach possible.
Methods of presenting targets in realistic backgrounds with range closure are needed for the accurate evaluation of electro-optic and multispectral (electro-optic and radio frequency) seekers designed to autonomously acquire a target and reject background or false targets. Heretofore, the ability of a seeker to acquire a target and reject background and countermeasures can only be demonstrated by expensive field tests, including captive flights, in a limited number of settings. Furthermore, high resolution seekers are sensitive to various portions of the target. Therefore, an accurate evaluation of the total seeker-missile concept cannot be realized early in the design stage of a seeker development program.
The development of a flexible simulation capable of simultaneously generating the electro-optic images in real time would allow a designer to test and refine parameters for proposed seekers and trackers early in the design stage. Such a simulator must be capable of interfacing to seeker simulations running in scaled time as well as breadboarded seeker hardware running in real time.
Subcomponent models for such a simulator fall into two categories. The first set of models are those executed once per simulation run. These models include target and background geometric and thermal properties models. For the background, these models include environmental models of how each material in the scene interacts with the environment, i.e., how thermal energy is gained and lost by each material, energy gain required for a one degree temperature change for each material, and energy radiated by a material as a function of temperature and wavelength. For targets, one must model internal heat sources, such as engines and their exhaust, and surface heating resulting from target motion.
The second category of model components are those that model the dynamics of target motion and generate the electro-optic information for each time step of the simulation. These algorithms are routinely computationally intensive requiring millions of floating point calculations for each simulated image. To achieve real time performance requires designing more efficient algorithms than currently exist and running those algorithms on fast special purpose computer hardware using advanced concurrent processing techniques.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for a computer-implemented electro-optical target and background simulation method that generates simulated images that may be used in designing and testing missile tracking systems. It is a further objective of the present invention to provide for a real time multispectral target and background scene generator that is capable of generating images in the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectral regions of complex air or ground targets in realistic manmade and/or natural backgrounds and countermeasures for a staring detector array that may be employed by a missile seeker.